How can we confess our sins well? First, be genuine in your confession. Don’t be hypocritical, confessing sins with the lips but not agreeing with the confession in your heart. Our body’s posture and our choice of words don’t matter nearly as much as the genuineness of our hearts in confession.
Second, regularly confess your sins to God. Make it a practice in your life to confess, both privately when you are alone and corporately in your church’s worship service.
Third, be specific when you confess. It is easy to be vague or general when we confess, but it is much better to be particular about the specific sins you have committed in order to be cleansed particularly of them.
Fourth, remember the gospel when you confess. Don’t be so introspective that you forget to look outside of yourself to God for his mercy in Christ. Indeed, none of us will enumerate all our sins, no matter how hard we try, for there are many sins of which we are unaware (Psalm 19:12). Confession should always include looking to God in remembrance of his mercy in Christ, with the full assurance that our sins are truly forgiven for the sake of Christ.
Fifth, confess your sins to others, either for the sake of reconciliation with them (Matthew 5:23-24) or for the sake of mutual edification (James 5:16). And when others confess their sins to you, remind them of the truth of the gospel.
In this sense, confession is truly good for the soul.
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